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Square Firewood Burns Better, Longer
You can get up to three times as much heating time out of firewood if you split it into square chunks instead of the traditional triangular-shaped pieces.
"We've been experimenting with square-split firewood for two heating seasons and we've found it saves an incredible amount of time, money, energy and trees," says Robert L. Williams III of Lawndale, N.C.
Williams square-splits firewood by simply cutting off four side slabs with a chainsaw, ax or maul, leaving one square center chunk. The square-split chunks have 1/3 less surface area than conventionally-split wood, the 18-year-old Williams ex-plains.
"The less surface exposed, the slower the wood burns," he notes.
To test the idea, Williams compared square-split wood to traditional-split wood of various types. All woods were cut into chunks of the same length from trees in the same physical condition. Burn was timed with a stop watch.
A stove-size, 6-in. sq. chunk of square-split pine burned 4 1/2 hours in a woodstove, compared with 2 1/2 hours for an equivalent amount of traditionally split wood. Square-split wild cherry lasted 6 hours, compared with 3 hours for traditionally split cherry. Square-split poplar lasted 3 hours, compared with 2 hours for traditionally cut pieces. Square-split oak and hickory last 7 hours, compared with 3 1/2 hours for traditionally cut wood.
Williams says it's easy to square-split poplar, most pines, beech, birch, wild cherry, knot-free oaks and hickories with an ax or maul.
For knotty oaks and hickories as well as some pines, you may have to use a chainsaw because they're difficult to cut square, Williams says.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Robert L. Williams III, 145 Queen Road, Lawndale, N.C. 28090 (ph 704538-7900).


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1995 - Volume #19, Issue #6